On Sun, 31 Aug 1997, Don Wang wrote:
>Chris:
>
>> Er... volume 36, pages 130-132. Kodachi, Shampoo and Ukyou all turn up
>> to meet Nodoka - Kodachi tells Nodoka that she and Ranma's
>> relationship has gone "beyond friends" - Nodoka was thinking that all
>> the girls were Ranma's friends/pals.
>
>She thinks of them as really close friend, no?  She's still never told
>the true nature of the relationships.

It does appear to be that way - if Ukyou (or the others) had said
something, I'm sure we'd have seen some reaction from Nodoka at some
point.


>> She knew about, and approved of Ranma's engagement to Akane. I think
>> she'd take a _very_ dim view of other 'fiancees', especially since she
>> had no even been consulted. The most likely outcome I think would be
>> that Nodoka would tell Ranma to sort things out - which is what the
>> narration at the end implies should be done anyway.
>
>I don't know.  She didn't consult Ranma's advise when she was going
>along with the wedding.  It seems to me that the most she'd do is ask
>Genma, and most likely they'll still go on with the wedding anyway.

Er, not consulting Ranma about the wedding is somewhat different to
the theoretical possibility of her asking Ranma to sort out his
relationships, in general. When I said 'had not even been consulted' I
meant that Nodoka had not been consulted about Ukyou's engagement to
Ranma. (I see no evidence to suggest that Nodoka didn't know about the
Tendo/Saotome engagement from the first, even if she hadn't met Soun.)

It is a Japanese tradition for people to sort out all their
relationships before they get married. I suppose Soun and Genma didn't
care (or chose to ignore this), and Nodoka didn't really know about
the scale of the situation. This should have been done anyway, and
since Nodoka (in all likelihood) now knows about the others, she'd ask
Ranma to sort of Kodachi, Shampoo and Ukyou.  She'd probably also want
to talk to Genma about the engagement with Ukyou.

 
>> Yup. If Nodoka found out, the most likely outcome would be for her
>> reject them. She'd probably be happy in a way that so many girls love
>> Ranma, but I also think she'd be unpacking that katana of hers again,
>> and go and have a 'talk' with Genma.
>
>Thank you.  At least someone has the reason to realize Nodoka wouldn't
>approve of additional engagements.  That is all I need to know.

You're welcome.


>> Ukyou and Shampoo are about equal. I'd say Akane is better than
>> Kodachi though.
>
>I think Ukyou and Akane are equal.  Shampoo, considering that her
>background is much better than Ukyou, and she was trained under the
>tutorlege of someone who is still probably the best martial arts in the
>series, plus that she comes from a warrior society, has to be better
>than Ukyou.

Hmm, should have enlarged on the 'about equal' thing - I don't have a
problem accepting that Shampoo's the better of the two, but the
different is not large, I'd say - this is what I've said before when
it comes up. However, if Shampoo and Ukyou hadn't fought (with no
obvious victor) in v16, it'd be _really_ hard to compare them - we see
on frame of Ukyou attacking Shampoo (unarmed) with one hand, with her
other hand holding her mega-spatula - and Ukyou's keeping Shampoo at
bay with one arm (and weapons), while Shampoo has two free. *shrug*
Maybe Shampoo's defence isn't too great.

I don't think it's ever stated that Cologne gave Shampoo a great deal
of training. Also for all we know, Shampoo's village is pretty poor, and
the villagers spend a lot of their time doing farming. Okay, so Ukyou
had to go to school too, but then, so did Ranma - who easily beats
Shampoo in girl-form. Ukyou could have better natural talent than
Shampoo (though we don't know about Ukyou's trainers - just because
it's odd, doesn't mean it's bad), and Ukyou certainly had a _lot_ of
drive. Yes, it still would be more natural for someone of Shampoo's
background to beat someone with Ukyou's background.

There's a distinct lack of evidence (as you've said before, Ukyou
doesn't get to fight much), which makes things hard, and I don't have
time at the moment for a long-term argument.



>> (if you ignore Kuno not fighting at full strength against girls, right?)
>
>Of course.  Actually the anime story of Linlin and Ranran illustrates
>this example quite well.  These two probably couldn't even beat Akane,
>yet they beat Kunou.
> 
>> Ignoring Cologne of course. Opps, and Hinako's beaten Kuno too.
>
>Didn't consider them as girls.  Sorry!  But I was thinking of the major
>cast, ie Akane/Ukyou/Shampoo/Kodachi.

You said the _female cast_, if I remember correctly ^-^


>> I wouldn't say that Kuno could always beat them. Eg, Kodachi uses some
>> sneaky method to disarm him, or similarly for the others. Basically,
>> they'd have to trick him.
> 
>	So you mean he basically more able than the girls, no?

His attack is _very_ good - fast, and pretty darn powerful.  His
defence seems a bit weak though, and he doesn't seem to be able to
take much damange. With her long metal weapon (hence range, plus her
mini-spatula's), Ukyou may have the best chance - I don't think Kuno's
bokken would break her spatula, but he has used metal swords. Though,
Shampoo could get out a metal weapons too - her bonbori's wooden
handles are a weak point, plus throwing weapons. But, we could debate
specifics until the cows come home, but we agree on the basics it
seems.

But then, compare him to Konatsu with a _bamboo_ sword... hehe.


>Of course, being more able doesn't always determine the outcome of a
>fight, and I agree with that.  Happosai is more able than almost
>everyone else, and it appears to me he is still more able than Ranma at
>the end

Yup, though Ranma's approaching his level if you ask me.

>(look at wedding story, for example.  He's still okay while Ranma's
>KOed)

True, but Ranma was most likely at the centre... dunno where Happosai
was at the time. Ryouga, Mousse and Genma were all still okay-ish.
Sounds like, Ranma (female), and already knocked out (briefly) by some
certain bombs, caught the worst of it. Still a bit odd, though.


>yet he loses to girls on a very consistent basis.  Ranma is not quite
>as able as the people he defeated, yet he still defeated them.

*shrug* perverts always get beaten up ^-^ (well, pretty often.)

Some minor Inuyasha spoilers here (if you've only read Viz's stuff):

It occured to me that other day, that in some ways, if you mix Kagome
and Inuyasha, you'd get someone rather like Ranma. Inuyasha has all
the brute strength, stamina and a fairly straight forward attack,
though _very_ powerful when using Tetsusaiga. While Kagome is highly
tactical - go for any weak points, try and find/think of any weak
points. Kagome's also nicer than Ranma, and Inuyasha also nastier
than Ranma, etc etc...

So, even though Kagome's attack power's pretty feeble compared to
Inuyasha's (so far), but she can help him overcome difficult enemies
by using tactics. But with Ranma, it's a all-in-one package :)

Ranma's very highly skilled though - something Inuyasha isn't, and
Kagome isn't yet - though she's getting better, though she'd never get
to Ranma's level, of course.


--
+---- Chris Rijk --- chris@ivision.co.uk --- http://www.wot-club.org.uk/ ----+
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